The Party and State of Vietnam always pay attention to promoting social welfare, gender equality and women’s rights, said the State leader.

President Nguyen Minh Triet stated this on October 15 while receiving Michelle Bachelet, the Under-Secretary-General for the UN’s Women Agency and Chair of the UN Social Protection Floor Advisory Group.

Vietnam advocates stepping up economic development must be combined with enhancing social equality and improving peoples living conditions, especially those in remote and mountainous areas and social policy beneficiaries, said Triet.

The president urged Bachelet to put forward suggestions to help Vietnam carry out programmes and policies on social welfare and gender equality.

Triet congratulated Bachelet, who is a former President of Chile, on her new appointment to the UN and applauded her for choosing Vietnam as her first visit, believing that her trip will be a milestone in cooperative ties between Vietnam and the UN.

The State leader said he was delighted at the developments in Vietnam-UN relations in recent years and thanked all the UN’s agencies for supporting and assisting the country during its process of national construction and development.

The UN has contributed greatly to Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements, particularly in hunger eradication and poverty reduction, he stressed.

On the Vietnam - Chile relationship, Triet said that both nations should complete their negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as soon as possible, to facilitate bilateral economic and trade ties.

President Triet also congratulated the Chilean government and people on the successful rescue of 33 miners who had been trapped for 69 days in the San Jose gold and copper mine near Copiapo City.

Bachelet praised Vietnam’s efforts and successes in promoting peace, socio-economic development and women’s rights and position in society. These achievements convinced Bachelet to visit Vietnam first, after she was appointed to the UN, she added.

She went on to say that Vietnam’s successes could be applied to other nations and that the UN Initiative on a Social Protection Floor, co-initiated and introduced by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), aims to enhance countries’ capacity in ensuring people’s basic social welfare and ensuring a more equal society.

Vietnam has shown its commitment and political determination to social welfare and several UN bodies have pledged to back the country’s social programmes and policies, she said.

While sharing President Triet’s views on relationship between Vietnam and Chile, Bachelet said that she believed both governments would soon sign the planned FTA as it is in the interests of both peoples./.